Student Action

Acadia celebrates week of water

By Katie Bowers
Although World Water Day was offi cially March 22, Acadia University hosted water awareness activities for the entire week of March 22 to 27.

“World Water Day was started by the United Nations to recognize the growing scarcity of water resources,” said Amy Buckland-Nicks, a second-year environmental studies student who is the coordinator at the campus sustainability office and organized the week’s activities.

“The thing I was going for at first was to get bottled water off campus because it is more sustainable to get water from municipal sources,” Buckland- Nicks said.

However, after going through the school’s legal contracts and doing a survey of the school water fountains, organizers shifted the focus to improving water fountains on campus and educating student about the problems with bottled water.

Organizers circulated a petition at all of the week’s events, calling for the university to upgrade campus water fountains. Their goal was to receive 300 signatures, which they quickly accomplished. “It was very successful, which is great. Once we get fountains, student awareness and support, it will be easier to get the bottle-free zone,” Buckland-Nicks said.

The activities began Sunday evening with a Toast to Water event in the student dining hall. Over dinner, a student band played, followed by a speech about the negative impact of bottled water. Finally, a popular local band, The Hupman Brothers, played for students. Students were served pitchers of tap water.

On Monday, the sustainability office co-ordinated with the residence life staff to hold a bottled water versus tap water taste test. The results proved to be fairly even, with many people preferring tap water or not being able to tell the difference, Buckland-Nicks said. The university also held a walk for- water event where students were challenged to balance 40 pounds of books on their heads, the equivalent of what African women carry in water every day.

Wednesday night Acadia hosted a panel discussion where four experts, including two Acadia professors, gave speeches on various water-related issues such as water as a human right, local water sources and Turkish officials who denounce water as a human right, Buckland-Nicks said. “One of the speeches focused on water as a human right and how it specifically affects women. They can’t get their education because they have to walk all day to get water,” she said. “It controls our lives much more than we realize.” On March 26, water information, free trade coffee and local music talent were shared at a coffee house. Afterward, organizers showed the movie Flow, a documentary about the privatization of water, Buckland-Nicks said. The events engaged a diverse range of students and proved to be very successful as students willingly got involved, Buckland-Nicks said.

“It’s so easy to change. It is something with very minimal effort you can make a change. It’s good to start with something tangible,” she said. 